Joe Hendry believes missing out on a match with John Cena on his retirement tour ultimately pushed him to a higher level.
Speaking with Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful, Hendry reflected on his experience at Saturday Night’s Main Event in December, where he was part of Cena’s final show despite not getting the retirement match he had hoped for. He described being present for Cena’s farewell locker room speech as one of the most meaningful moments of his WWE tenure.
“What I will say, I was super grateful to be a part of the last show. That was a really incredible experience. I got to talk to John there and I was there for when he did his last speech to the locker room. So to be there for that was pretty incredible, as well as appear on the show, to walk out at the end of the show as well to watch John’s last moments as an active WWE competitor, that was very special. So I was very grateful to be a part of it. It’s one of those things that I have to say that I think everything happens for a reason. There’s part of me that wonders, maybe it had to happen that way. Maybe the match had to not happen for me to appreciate that you can’t expect every surprise moment to go your way,” Hendry said.
He also explained how the disappointment of not being selected for Cena’s retirement tour became the driving force behind his immersive approach to NXT.
“I think it lit a fire under me actually, because it made me realize that, I guess, my goal was to face John Cena and because it didn’t happen, I was like, ‘Right, well, I need to take this to the next level now.’ I think it motivated me even more. I think the approach I took with going to NXT is I was in the Performance Center every day. I was doing the classes. It was not something that I had to do; it was something that I wanted to do. I really just tried to immerse myself in NXT as much as possible. I feel I got extra motivation because sometimes I think if everything just comes to you easily, maybe someone might take it for granted. So I just took it as extra motivation to go, ‘Alright, you know what? I need to dig even deeper to get these big moments to continue to happen,'” Hendry said.
Hendry did appear at Saturday Night’s Main Event, where he joined R-Truth in a comedic segment that paid tribute to Cena while the two attacked Miz. He and Cena had also crossed paths backstage at WrestleMania 41, where Cena praised Hendry’s Royal Rumble performance and later identified him as a major player in the industry.
In February 2026, Hendry captured the NXT Championship for his first WWE title win before losing it at NXT Stand and Deliver in a fatal four-way match to Tony D’Angelo.
